American kickboxing

[Luther unleashed]

How many know what this is. I practice/teach this with Karate to my students. Anybody know what it is.

[Wado Heretic]

Yes, and no. Have encountered a few varieties, with subtle nuances, over the years. However, most common variety I have encountered allows only kicks above the waist, and no clinching or use of the elbows and knees.

I competed in a handful of matches under those rules, but I prefer Thai or K1 rules. My most effective weapons are kubi sumo, low kicks, and knees, so always felt disarmed fighting by American rules. I am an okay counter puncher, but it is not my favourite fall back tactic.

[Luther unleashed]

Yeah your right about American kickboxing and the no low kicks and elbows and so on. I trained under a guy as self defense though and not in a sport setting. The rules you mentioned are a defining point in the style, however the biggest thing I have seen is that back in the day these were guys that wore black belts and karate style pants in their matches. Also just as I teach, they assume a more sideways stance which makes use of lead leg/arm attacks better but not as much rear leg/arm attacks, it does however follow the belief that this enables for faster entry and exit techniques. The more popular nowadays square stances in kickboxing are conducive to attacking equally from both sides, and make Robson readily available. Kicks like spinning back kicks and side kicks are more difficult and require a bit of telagraphing to facilitate however.

Essentially it's what you described in a sport setting though, thanks for the post

[Wado Heretic]

Well, back in the seventies; full-contact or professional Karate, was some what indivisible from American Kick-boxing. Many of the top names in Pro-Karate also participated in Kick-Boxing, and in most respects American Kick-Boxing was early point style karate done with full contact.

Coming from a point based back ground as a teenager, it was easier to transition to American rules, as there is, as you mentioned, a focus on quicker entry and exiting. However, based on my shoot-fighting experience, and work as a doorman (in the security sense, not courtesy sense) I would argue that it is some what removed from self-defence beyond level if impact. However, it did teach me the deficiencies of many kicking techniques.

I use it as an entry level into full-contact sparring, before moving on to increasingly diversified rules, until finally basically sparring according to Combudo rules. It is useful for acclimatising individuals to taking, and delivering a punch, but also helps students decide what direction they want to take their karate. If they enjoy such sparring I generally try and help them consider trying kick-boxing.

[Luther unleashed]

Your very right. You know what your talking about, you can almost always find a link between American kickboxing. It is often called full contact karate in its essance. The thing that sets it apart as its own style though to me, is the array of techniques that seemingly come from karate like spinning back fists, and karate style kicks with more emphasis on speed and deception similar to boxING and so on. I learned it this way just without the sport setting. Nobody told me to not kick low and so on, I was told to hit in the most devastating areas. I was taught because I needed to know how to handle myself in a tougher area. The guy who taught me said "having heart isn't enough".

So what I'm saying I guess is to me it has an identifying style, aside from the identifying sport aspect.

[RW]

is it still popular?

[sensei8]

Well, back in the seventies; full-contact or professional Karate, was some what indivisible from American Kick-boxing. Many of the top names in Pro-Karate also participated in Kick-Boxing, and in most respects American Kick-Boxing was early point style karate done with full contact.

Coming from a point based back ground as a teenager, it was easier to transition to American rules, as there is, as you mentioned, a focus on quicker entry and exiting. However, based on my shoot-fighting experience, and work as a doorman (in the security sense, not courtesy sense) I would argue that it is some what removed from self-defence beyond level if impact. However, it did teach me the deficiencies of many kicking techniques.

I use it as an entry level into full-contact sparring, before moving on to increasingly diversified rules, until finally basically sparring according to Combudo rules. It is useful for acclimatising individuals to taking, and delivering a punch, but also helps students decide what direction they want to take their karate. If they enjoy such sparring I generally try and help them consider trying kick-boxing.

Solid post!!

[khuyen86]

yeah , you teach three subjects, "Kickboxing, Boxing and Muay Thai"? I love this sport, as you must have learned all there for a long time? for this sport requires something?

[126barnes]

Sound similar to WAKO "Full Contact" without the sweeps.

[IcemanSK]

I trained in full-contact rules from '94-'99. (Yep, that's right. Starting the year AFTER the 1st UFC debuted & the end of it's popularity). I trained w/ several world champs including Marek Piotrowski & women's pro boxing champ Chris Kreuz. I had one amatuer fight. I loved it, but I didn't have the desire to train the way I needed to do well. The UFC & Muay Thai exploded in the 90's & full-contact rules became less interesting to the public. I did get the opportunity to judge several amatuer world title fights of a young Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson (current UFC fighter fighting Johnny Hendricks in February). I met a lot of great people & loved the experience.

Yes, it's similar to WAKO. In fact, I think WAKO still has a American rules/full-contact rules division. No leg kicks. Have to land 8 hard kicks per round. No knees or elbows. The best way to describe it is boxing w/ above the waist kicks.